In a Lady's Eyes
by Lintasare
Summary: Lady Anna had everything she wanted in life, except love. Is Col. Tavington the one who could give her that?
1. Letter from her Father

Title: In a Lady's Eyes

Summary: Lady Anna Cornwallis lives the life of the privileged. She has everything she could ever want, except love. Until she meets the commanding officer of the Green Dragoons. Is this Colonel Tavington the man she has been looking for?

Disclaimer: All characters from the Patriot belong to Centropolis Entertainment and Sony Pictures. Lady Anna and the plot are mine.

Feedback: Please I would love some

Anna sighed as she read the letter from her father, Lord General Charles Cornwallis. He and the southern army were in the colony of South Carolina and he wished that she would join him. She looked out the window at the rolling hills of one of her Virginia plantations that she had inherited from her husband when he passed on. 

She had married the much older Baron of Newcastle at her fathers' insistence when she was 15 but before they could consummate the union he rushed to the Colonies to oversee the many plantations he had, he wanted to formalize their union on the American soil. But unfortunately for him he died of cholera on the journey over the ocean. She inherited thousands of fertile acres in the Colonies, most in Virginia as well as several grand manors and two thousand acres in England as well as quite a sum of money, over 25 thousand pounds a year in income.

Anna was her fathers' only child; she had her mother's slim build and graceful beauty. She was also blessed with her fathers' intelligence and wit. As a child she read all the books she could get her hands on and was educated at some of the finest schools in England. Her family had many connections, one close relative was even the Archbishop of Canterbury. She was also very strong willed and idealistic. 

After her husbands death she had traveled to the Colonies alone to oversee the plantations which was frowned upon there and in England. After only a year in the Colonies war broke out. Lucky for her she never used her maiden name, she was known only as the Widow Newcastle, she kept her family ties a close secret.

Sighing again she picked up a quill pen and dipped it into a pot of ink. Quickly she wrote out a short reply saying that she would love to go to South Carolina and join him. She quickly blotted the letter and folded it. Then she sealed it with crimson wax and stamped it with a stylish letter A. She bound it with a red ribbon and gave it to one of her messengers who would deliver it to her father. 

Then she set two of her maids upstairs to start packing. She also sent two of her male slaves to fetch some of her father's things from a storage shed. He had requested a few items of furniture as well as his two Great Danes, Jupiter and Mars, presents from the king which she had been caring for. She herself personally packed two of his dress uniforms, which her seamstresses had made, a trunk of his personal writings and several cases of Madeira wine, which was her father's favorite.

Walking outside she caught the attention of Abe, a freedman who was one of her overseers. They walked along one of the fields for a bit before she started to speak to him, "The tobacco is growing well." 

Bowing his head he replied, "Yes ma'am it is." 

She carefully watched the slaves at their work, "I am leaving you in charge Abe, I am going to South Carolina to stay with my father for awhile, I do not know when I will be back. I will leave Matthew in charge of the house staff. You both will confer on major decisions while I am gone." 

Abe nodded his head, "We will see that everything runs smoothly while you are gone." 

Anna smiled and turned towards the house, "Good, I am counting on both of you not to lose my home during the war."

Just a couple short days after answering her father's letter she and a company of soldiers who were stationed near her plantation set off for South Carolina. For the most part it was uneventful. But when they reached the South Carolina border things changed. The war was raging here, she could see it in the landscape where trees and fields were burned and in abandoned homes which bore the scars of artillery attacks. They rested one night in an abandoned plantation house. 

That night to keep her mind off the war she read through her fathers war journals. All her life she had read his books on warfare and sometimes she though that she knew more than he did. 

The next day they set off again, they were told that they were but half a day's march from where her father's headquarters were, in a manor given to the British army by some Loyalist. Anna was sitting in the back of a wagon with the dogs on a very uncomfortable bench writing in her journal when suddenly gunshots rang out. She quickly dove to the floor of the wagon and grabbed her pistol. Several bullets shot through the canvas over her head. Outside she could hear the Lieutenant in charge of the company traveling with her shouting orders but from the din she could tell they were not fighting Continental Regulars. She knew from her readings that they were fighting militia, which did not follow the same rules as the regulars.

Soon the shooting stopped and she could hear rough voices outside the wagon. Quietly she cocked her pistol, ready to shoot the first person that stuck his face inside the wagon. Jupiter and Mars began barking incessantly and moved to the end of the wagon while she stayed near the front, in the shadows. A rough looking man with greasy hair and knawing on a bone started cursing at them. 

He pulled out a pistol ready to shoot them both when a tall man with dark hair and an authoritative figure stopped him. The greasy man complained saying. "They won't let anyone near the wagon." The newcomer took the bone and threw it to the ground about ten feet from the wagon, both Jupiter and Mars jumped out and towards the bone.

Anna took that moment to make herself known, "Of course they were protecting the wagon, it is what they do." 

The newcomer wore a dark coat with embroidery and had dark hair, but very light blue eyes and he spoke with a soft voice, "These wagons are now the property of the South Carolina Militia." Then he held out his hand and helped her out of the wagon, then his men started going through it. 

One man, a tall one with sandy red hair pulled open a crate and exclaimed, "Look Madeira!" 

Another pulled out the trunk with her father's writings and the newcomer and another man, a pastor by the looks of him started going through them. "These look like the personal correspondence of the Lord Cornwallis." 

The greasy man looked at them and said, "I say we drink the wine, eat the dogs, and use the paper for musket wadding." 

The pastor got a sick look on his face, "Eat the dogs?" 

The man in the dark coat said, "Oh yes, a dog is a very fine meal." 

Then the pastor got a green look on his face and exclaimed, "Dear heavens."

Anna took that moment to speak up, "I don't care if you drink the wine, but the dogs are very valuable so please don't eat them and those papers are my father's personal diaries and journals so please do not use them for musket wadding." 

The man in the coat rose and approached her, "May I ask your name?" 

She gave him a steely gaze and said, "I am Lady Anna Cornwallis the Baroness of Newcastle, I am the daughter of Lord General Cornwallis to whom I am traveling to meet. May I ask who you are sir?" 

He stood up straight, "Certainly, I am Colonel Benjamin Martin of the South Carolina Militia, but you may call me "The Ghost"."

Authors Note: I am trying to keep in line with the movie, but it has been sometime since I have seen it, if you see any errors in the timeline or in dialog or characters please let me know so that I can correct it.


	2. First Impressions of the Colonel

Chapter 2

Rescue

A/N: See info and disclaimer in the first chapter

"So you are the ghost that I have been warned about," Anna looked at Colonel Martin with some interest, "You don't look like a ghost to me." 

Colonel Martin laughed, "I don't know why the British gave me that nickname, perhaps it was because when my militia attacks they can't see us, we move too fast." 

Anna nodded, "An apt name I am sure. Now on to other things, what is going to happen to these wagons and more importantly what is going to happen to me?" 

He regarded her for a minute then left to confer with his men. After a few minutes he came back, "The men are split, half say we should take you as a prisoner and use you as a bargaining chip with your father. The other half say that we let you go, we don't take women as prisoners." 

She looked at his face, torn with indecision, "And what do you say Colonel?" 

He sighed and said, "My gut tells me not to take you as prisoner, but my head says yes you must be taken."

Anna nodded, "Your gut tells you that women should never be prisoners. But your head tells you I must be taken as a prisoner because I know your name and I can report it to my father. It seems you have a stalemate Colonel." She sat down heavily on the wagon, "But I have a solution for you." 

He raised an eyebrow, "And what would that be Milady?"

She stood and said, "Leave me here with an empty wagon and no horses, take everything that you want. When my fathers men come to find me I will say that in the beginnings of the fighting I was knocked unconscious and when I came too the men were dead, the horses stolen and that I did not know who did it. He will believe me because he has no reason not too." 

Colonel Martin regarded her for a minute, "You think that would work." Leveling her gaze she replied, "It is the only option that works for the both of us Colonel."

After several tense minutes Colonel Martin finally replied, "Very well, I will go with your plan. It seems the only viable option.

Anna nodded, "A wise choice Colonel. Now I suggest you take what you want and leave. I doubt you killed all the men with me, one has surely escaped and reported the ambush. My fathers men will be here soon." 

Colonel Martin quickly mobilized his men and soon all the wagons were looted and all the horses cut free. They also took the uniforms and munitions from the killed soldiers. Soon they were ready to depart and Colonel Martin walked over to her, "Milady, how will you fake an injury bad enough to knock you unconscious?" 

Sighing she replied, "I won't fake it." Then she bashed the side of her head against one of the upright supports of the wagon. Instantly she saw stars and almost blacked out, but was able to keep her composure.

Satisfied that she was keeping her end of the bargain Colonel Martin mounted his horse and rode off with his men and several wagons full of things plundered from the soldiers. She was left with just the wagon she was sitting on, a trunk of some of her personal things and the dress on her back. They had even taken her pistol but they had left her a canteen of water so she would not go thirsty waiting for her rescue. Lucky for her, the rescue was not far off.

By her estimation her rescue came only a couple hours after the attack which said to her that her father was patrolling for this "Ghost" and his men. Her rescue came in the form of a company of dragoons and from the looks of their uniforms it was the infamous Green Dragoons. They were led by a tall, almost aristocratic looking man whom by the insignia on his uniform was a colonel much like the "Ghost". 

This colonel called for his men to halt, dismounted and walked towards her in an authoritative way. He had a terse, cold look on his face and anger showed in his eyes. He stopped a respectable distance away from her and introduced himself, "I am Colonel William Tavington of the Green Dragoons, may I ask your name?" 

Giving a curtsy then wishing she hadn't because of her head Anna replied, "I am Lady Anna Cornwallis, I am surprised my father did not mention to his officers that I was coming."

Colonel Tavington looked shocked for a moment then regained his composure, "Unfortunately your father does not tell his officers everything. May I ask what happened here. One of your men escaped and said that you were ambushed. Could you perhaps shed some light on what happened?" 

Anna touched her head where she had hit it, "I am afraid I cannot. I was sitting in this wagon when I heard gunshots. Then the wagon lurched and I hit my head on the upright and lost consciousness. When I awoke the men were dead, the horses were gone and I was left with only a trunk of personal items. Everything else was apparently taken. I do not know who committed this act and I do not know what they would want with my clothing." 

Colonel Tavington looked her over from where he stood then remarked, "It appears they did not harm your person." 

Anna glanced down, "No, it appears they did not."

The Dragoons looked around the site and came to the conclusion that it was either a band of local rouges or the "Ghost" and his men. Anna for her part kept quiet, not knowing anything about what happened. When it came time to depart they realized they didn't have an extra horse for her to ride. This did not concern Anna, she was intrigued by this Colonel Tavington and feigned a fainting spell to get him to let her ride with him. 

Soon she was situated on the front of his horse with her right leg draped over the saddle horn almost like riding sidesaddle. He sat in the saddle behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from falling off in case she should faint. They left the wagon behind and the men carried her items in their saddlebags as they also left the trunk behind. Some local would find the wagon and put the wood to good use.

They rode for what seemed like hours and during that time Anna made small conversation with the Colonel. She found out that he was from a minor noble family and that his father had gambled and drank them into ruin and for that he despised the man even though he had been dead for several years. Somehow, he didn't tell her how he made enough money to buy him a commission in the army and came to the Colonies where he planned to settle when England won this silly war as he called it. 

They also talked about literature and Anna found out that Colonel Tavington was a very well read man, one of his favorite books being "The Prince" by Machiavelli. This told Anna that be subscribed to the theory that the end justifies the mean and that he most likely often resorted to brutal tactics on the field and off. 

Inwardly Anna smiled; this Colonel was exactly what she was looking for in a man. He was intelligent, educated, and handsome. She knew she could whittle away the cold disposition to the point where it would not show in private. She knew if she tried hard enough and used everything at her disposal she could and would make this colonel hers.

Soon they were riding into the courtyard of what was once a plantation house. Now it was a garrison for her fathers' troops. A high wall made of logs encircled the house. They stopped in the middle of the courtyard and Anna could see a man in uniform walking towards them. It was her father and he did not look pleased.


	3. A Doting Father and Dinner

Ch. 3

A/n: To one of my reviewers Badassgothicgirl, yes you have seen this story before. I had it published on this site a couple of years ago but took it down when I realized I wasn't going to be updating it. But I am now.

Disclaimer: See the first chapter

Colonel Tavington dismounted his horse then assisted Anna in dismounting as well. She was shaky on her feet and he offered his arm to escort her to her father. Upon seeing that his daughter was injured the look of disapproval melted into one of concern. He held out his arm to Anna and she gratefully took it before he pulled her into a hug, quite uncustomary for him to do in front of his men.

He then held her at arms length, "You don't seem to be injured too bad, I am glad those Rebels did not harm you." He took her arm and led her towards the main house, "Let us go inside for some tea"

As she walked away Anna turned to give Colonel Tavington a small smile as if to say thank you. She followed her father into the plantation house, which served as his headquarters.

" I've arranged a suite of rooms for you upstairs, I hope you will find them suitable," he said in a conversational tone. "There are also some dresses made by some local women, very fine work if I do say so myself and in light of recent events I shall arrange for them to make you more. To make up for your lost wardrobe."

She gave him a warm smile, a smile that he said always reminded him of her mother, "and you are to kind father, I am just glad to be here with you safe. Though I feel most regrettable that I was not able to save your beloved dogs or the uniforms I made for you. "

He patted her arm as he escorted her and said, "Do not trouble yourself with that, while I shall miss the companionship of the dogs the uniforms are no great loss. I know you can always make me more, you were also so good with sewing."

Anna could feel herself blush at the compliment to her sewing, throughout her life all she wanted to do was make her father proud. "I would be most pleased to make you new uniforms, it will give me something to do other than sitting around all day chatting idly with the old biddies that seem to be around."

They came to an elegantly carved oak door, which her father held open for her, "These will be your rooms. There is a siting room, a bedroom, a washroom and a dressing room. I hope you like the decorations, Mrs. Gibbs the housekeeper did it for you."

She let go of her father's arm and walked into the room, it was light and airy. The walls were covered in fabrics of sage green and lavender and there were paintings covering the walls of country scenes and playing children. Giving a warm smile to her father she said, "It is lovely, my compliments to Mrs. Gibbs."

Lord Cornwallis smiled, "I shall pass that along next time I see her. But for now I believe you should rest. I shall have a girl up here in a minute to help you get settled in." He placed a kiss on her cheek and exited the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.

After the departure of her father Anna took a seat on the padded windowseat and gazed out at the grounds below. Some soldiers were on guard duty, others were simply milling about as if they had nothing to do. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the Green Dragoons. Instantly she could pick out Col. Tavington, he carried his head very high and his walk was a bit arrogant.

There was a light knock on the door and Anna bade the person to enter. It was a young slave girl who had been sent to help her settle in. Anna showed her what needed to be done and was rather pleased to see that it was done quickly and efficiently. She dismissed the girl with orders to return in 2 hours time, she would have more tasks for her.

Anna lay on the bed, pleased at the softness of the pillows and the mattress and closed her eyes. It felt like only a couple of minutes when she heard knocking at her door and the voice of the servant girl calling her name.

Two hours had not passed already, she had been more tired than she thought. The girl entered with a basin of water so that Anna could freshen up for supper. Anna changed from her dirty dress to a new one that her father had made for her. After she finished dressing the girl took her other dress to be washed and her father showed up to escort her down to the dining room.

Smiling she took his arm and he led her downstairs to the main dining room. Many of his top officers where to be dining tonight including to her delight Colonel Tavington, though to her dismay he was seated at the end of the table farthest from her. She was seated next to General O'Hare, a good man but reduced despite his family connections and rank to her father's lackey. 

Thankfully they talked about very mundane topics such as the latest novel that was published or some classic Greek work. She kept her mouth shut through the entire conversation, not wishing to let on that she actually knew more from her private studies than these highborn gentlemen. Much to her delight Col. Tavington was a very well read man and was quite able to keep up with the conversation.

After dinner was finished the officers retired to the parlor for brandy and wine and being the only woman Anna excused herself. In the hallway however someone touched her arm, she turned to meet the cold blue eyes of Col. Tavington.

"My lady you are looking well considering all that has happened. It is a amazing what a few hours rest can do for one's beauty." He hesitated a moment then continued, "I was wondering if perhaps tomorrow afternoon you would like to go riding in the country with me. Do not worry it will be in British held territory so there will be no danger."

Anna considered it for a minute, she did love to ride and she did want to see more of the local area. Smiling she replied, "Colonel I would be delighted to go riding with you, as long as we have a chaperone." She may be a widow but she was still young and bound by convention.

The Colonel on his part did not falter at her condition, "Of course my lady, I am sure you have someone in mind of course." He then bowed and kissed her hand, "Be ready at 3." Then he turned on his heels and walked into the parlor with the rest of the officers.


End file.
